You asked the questions and here's the answers to the 43rd batch of questions and our 2nd (of 12) for 2010.

Thanks to Hasbro and Hunter PR for giving fans around the world a chance to get their voices heard and their questions answered especially here at Jedi News, the UK's premier and favourite Star Wars fan site.

Thanks for sending in your questions and keep them coming for the next Q&A which we're due to send to Hasbro this Thursday, 25th February...

1. With the announcements of new Star Wars cars (Hyperdrive) and larger-scale Star Wars figures being released, what prompts the decision to develop new lines such as these, particularly in light of the perceived failure of the similar offerings like the Custom Choppers and Force Battlers from years gone by - is it merely to try and bring more children to the line on the back of the success of the Clone Wars?

We constantly introduce new lines and new concepts that are based on consumer insights. Sometimes, these turn into long-lasting expressions (such as Galactic Heroes, Star Wars Transformers, or the long run that Titanium enjoyed) and sometimes these expressions don't work and are pulled out of the line to be retooled (Galactic Heroes actually began life as a failed pre-school line) or are simply dropped never to return (Choppers). Force Battlers was actually one of the most successful lines of recent years in terms of number of figures sold per character, and it was precisely this success that led us to re-introduce the concept with Star Wars in the form of the Mega Battlers. Our intuition was that a new generation of younger fans would be brought into the Star Wars saga with the Clone Wars on Cartoon Network (and other broadcast networks around the globe) and this was proven correct. While many of these younger fans are naturally gravitating to the 3-3/4" figure lineup, the 3-3/4" figure is often difficult for younger kids due to the figures' small size and small accessories, the difficulty to make the figures stand and activate, and the like. As such, introducing bigger figures that are easier to manipulate, that fully realize the magic of each characters' signature weapons, makes sense. The figures came out better than we could ever imagine, and we can't wait to see them on shelves come August. As for Speed Stars/Hyperspace, the goal here is to bring Star Wars excitement to the vehicle aisle with a dynamic, speed-based feature. The target market is kids who like Star Wars and vehicle play, and as such this lineup will be merchandised in the vehicle aisle.

2. It's great news that the UK will see the new Vintage line (as a Toys R Us exclusive) as well as the new vehicles like the Bespin Cloud Car, Snowspeeder and the AT-AT; will these items see a worldwide release in places such as Mexico? Also, with the recent announcement that the last wave of Legacy (EU) is now a TRU exclusive in the US, are there any plans to bring it to TRU (or another retailer in the UK) and what about our Canadian readers?

The Vintage line will see a release on Mexico and Canada, but will not see widespread release in countries that do not have a strong collector population. This means that in some European, Asian, and Latin American countries the line will be more difficult to track down compared to surging Clone Wars figure segments.

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